In Imperial Year 1460, an age before even the star network existed, an unprecedented event took place. General Walwen, commander-in-chief of the Empire's Eleventh Army, severed all ties with the Empire while on campaign. The entire Eleventh Army vanished with him into the vastness of space.
Soon afterward, the Imperial Congress broadcast a message across the Empire: The military male Walwen and the Eleventh Army had rebelled, and had now been completely wiped out in the Keso Star System.
Upon hearing the terrible news, Lu Bolai felt utterly bereft. As a royal male, he was nothing like his brothers. He was warm and courteous toward others, considerate to a fault, excelled in his studies, and often stole the show at academy banquets. It was then that the young Lu Bolai met Walwen, a boy who seemed cold and obedient on the surface, but was daring and rebellious underneath.
The two young men were nearly inseparable. Just when everyone thought they would eventually bond, Walwen joined the Empire's most distant Eleventh Army without hesitation. He was gone for fifteen years. Then, at the ceremony on the home planet where Walwen was invested as a general, he saw Lu Bolai, who had come specially to attend. His Highness the Prince was still handsome and elegant, looking at him with a forgiving gaze. His gloved hands were folded together, as dignified as the sun.
Only Walwen had ever felt the warmth of those hands against his bare skin. Back then, Lu Bolai had clung to him, begging him to stay by his side, or for them to leave everything behind and run away together.
For a moment, Walwen had nearly agreed. But he could not bear to watch his sun fall, so he had no choice but to walk alone toward destruction.
Neither of them had imagined that, just as the sun rises again, Lu Bolai would be reborn.
